Marchant Introduces Bill to Eliminate Special Interest Tax Handout

Today, U.S. Congressmen Kenny Marchant (TX-24) and Mike Pompeo (KS-04) announced the introduction of H.R. 1901, the PTC Elimination Act. The legislation would phase out and repeal the renewable energy production tax credit (PTC).

Congressman Marchant issued the following statement upon introducing the PTC Elimination Act:

“If we want to build a healthier American economy, Congress must get rid of the dead weight in the tax code that is limiting our nation’s potential. That’s why I have introduced legislation to eliminate the production tax credit. Since its creation in 1992, the PTC has ballooned from a temporary boost for energy innovation into a massive special interest handout for the now multibillion-dollar wind industry. Today the wind industry regularly produces more energy than the market demands while hardworking taxpayers shell out billions of dollars each year in PTC support. In fact, because the credit pays claimants for 10 years of energy produced, Americans are currently on the hook for a minimum of $6.4 billion over the next decade.

“The fully mature wind industry should not be spoon-fed by taxpayers any longer. Even the industry’s top lobbying organization admits wind is a mainstream part of the market and has publicly supported a future phase-out of the PTC. The PTC Elimination Act would begin this phase-out immediately by significantly scaling back PTC handouts to those who are eligible. Similar proposals have been estimated to save nearly $10 billion. But the PTC Elimination Act doesn’t stop there. It would also completely dismantle the credit’s statutory framework and use the savings to lower the U.S. corporate tax rate. Even the president agrees that the U.S. corporate tax rate – which is the highest in the industrialized world – must come down to keep American businesses competitive.

“The PTC Elimination Act may only be one piece of the effort to fix our broken tax code, but it puts the American people first and levels the playing field both at home and in the global marketplace. That’s the approach to tax simplification we must use to revitalize the American economy.”

Congressman Pompeo released the following statement regarding the introduction of the PTC Elimination Act:

“Market-distorting, taxpayer-funded energy subsidies must become a thing of the past,” Rep. Pompeo stated. “I believe that the wind energy industry can succeed in the marketplace, but they need to succeed or fail on their own merits without billion dollar handouts from the American taxpayer. This bill stops the government from picking winners and losers in the energy marketplace. I applaud my colleague, Rep. Marchant, for being a leader in this effort and look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to advance this common sense legislation.”

The legislative text of the PTC Elimination Act can be found here. A one page summary of the bill can be found here.

About Kenny Marchant

As a lifelong conservative, Congressman Kenny Marchant is committed to the values of limited government and fiscal responsibility. Congressman Marchant has a strong record of fighting for lower taxes, eliminating wasteful government spending, bringing accountability and transparency to government, supporting free markets and opposing bailouts, securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws, and protecting human life in all its stages.